The agreement, filed yesterday before U.S. District Judge
Barbara Jones in Manhattan, resolves litigation in which Satyam
had argued U.S. shareholder lawsuits should be dismissed because
its home country was the proper venue for the claims. The judge
must approve the pact at a hearing to be scheduled later.

“This was a fairly dark cloud of uncertainty that has gone
away,” Vineet Nayyar, chairman of Satyam, said in an interview
today with Bloomberg UTV. “With this uncertainty gone, it
should reinforce client confidence.”

Satyam’s shares plunged 44 percent from Sept. 22 to Nov. 29
after then Chairman Ramalinga Raju revealed an accounting fraud
estimated at 100 billion rupees ($2.2 billion) by investigators
and resigned. Investors in the U.S. filed at least a dozen
class-action lawsuits that were consolidated before Jones.

The company had argued that the case brought by the lead
plaintiff, the Mississippi Public Employees’ Retirement System,
should be dismissed because it bought shares in India rather
than American depositary receipts in the U.S.

Satyam entered into the settlement to “enhance its
credibility and business opportunities in the United States
market, and eliminate the burden, expense, uncertainty and
distraction of further litigation,” according to the filing.
The company didn’t admit any wrongdoing in the accord.

Shares Rise

Satyam rose as much as 6 percent to 66.50 rupees in Mumbai
trading. The shares gained 3.7 percent to 65.05 rupees at 11:19
a.m. local time.

After Raju’s 2009 disclosures, India’s government dismissed
the Satyam board and appointed new directors. Tech Mahindra Ltd.,
the Pune, India-based software company, gained control of Satyam
after winning an auction held by a government-nominated board.